Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce.

Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease.” Jeremiah 29:5-6 (NASB)

 The world is all in a tizzy this week as the long-awaited baby of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of Great Britain brought forth their first child. I has been a bit of daylight in a news stream that is dismal and discouraging. We have come to live in a time where all the news on the networks is “BREAKING NEWS”. We are inundated with mass shootings, political intrigue, natural disasters and overall negative information. Even newscasters seemed eager to share a story that could make us all smile and be in awe if only for a moment. If we allow it, the news will give us no hope for tomorrow and a sense that God has abandoned us and this world. The fact of the matter is that dire times are not new to this world for nothing is new under the sun (Ecc.1:9) and in the time of Jeremiah, the people who were living in captivity felt much the same way.

This message that Jeremiah sent to the captives in Babylon was meant to encourage them to go on with their lives while they waited on God’s timing of release. He is telling them to live in the present moment, enjoy the good things that come in this lifetime and to conduct themselves as though the promise was already happening. The truth is that while the news feeds would have us live in gloom and doom constantly, there is a whole lot of life and joy going on that doesn’t get the news feed attention. People are getting married, babies are being born, victories are being won, seasons continue to cycle around, life accomplishments are being rewarded and celebrated all over this world. It is true that in this period of time between Christ’s first and second coming, we are told in the Bible that there will be “wars and rumors of wars…famines…earthquakes” (Matt. 24:6-7) and much of what we see today reminds us of this. But we who trust in God, know that there is a promise of an eternal glory. While we are waiting, we will be wise to take Jeremiah’s advice.

For every time you hear about a negative news story or incident, I challenge you to seek something positive to reflect on. It will not necessarily change the world, but it will certainly change your attitude. For me this week, as a mother and a grandmother, I choose to reflect on the giddy and happy faces of two new parents that have brought a beautiful boy into this world that all the world has been anticipating. I remember my own emotions at holding the miracle of life in my hand and it causes me to smile.